Here Without You
by horsecrazy2
Summary: M/A Max and Alec search beneath the city for a transgenic. Warning: Not for those who like happy endings.


A/N: Just a little idea running around in my head. I know it's been done before, but hey, I felt like giving it a go. I'm working on the next chapter to Untitled which I think I actually have a name for now. Wow! Impressive, huh? Anyway, please R&R. Any feedback is welcome. Warning: Not for those who like happy endings. Also, this is a standalone. It has nothing to do with Untitled, so don't get confused or anything.  
  
Dislcaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or anything asociated it. It belongs to Fox and some people with way more money than I have. Lucky bastards.  
  
The title is not mine. It's the name of a song off of 3 Doors Down's sophomore album, Away From the Sun. (Awesome CD, by the way; I loved it.) What can I say? I wasn't creative enough to come up with anything on my own.  
  
  
  
  
  
Here Without You  
  
  
  
Sewers  
Seattle Wa., October 17th, 2021  
  
  
  
Putrid stench aside, the overall atmosphere ranked slightly less than 19,289 on  
Alec's list of favorite pastimes. The darkness trickled in from all sides to embrace his  
muscular form-and not only the darkness trickling in, but the not-so enticing, occasional  
whiffs of sewer sludge. His nostrils curled against this unwelcome invasion of his  
sensitive nose.  
  
"Much as I love an afternoon climbin' through the sewers in search of the latest  
freak sendin' Seattle into a panic, don't you think we oughta' try another day, Max? I  
mean, come on; we've been down here a good two hours and still nothin'."  
  
"Quiet." the brunette walking lightly beside him hissed.   
  
He rolled his eyes.   
  
In the dampness emanating from the surrounding walls, Alec shivered lightly, and  
the shudder passed throughout his entire body. He glanced briefly over at Max, and  
cleared his throat. "So what is it this time? Lizard-man? Another dog-boy? Maybe  
another fish. Although I wouldn't go protestin' that, because the last one turned out to be  
pretty damn f-"  
  
"A kid." she interrupted, apparently growing tired of his yapping.  
  
He snuck another look over at her. "A kid? As in, baby lizard, puppy? Or  
human?"  
  
"Human. Or at least human-looking." Max amended with a shrug. She kept her  
eyes ahead. The surrounding dim glow burnished sable hair to a chestnut luster, and  
clung to each soft curve. He traced its lingering path with darkened eyes, hazel fading to  
emerald brilliance in their desire. "Some street thugs gave him a beating, but he escaped.   
They had it on Channel 5. Figured this would be the best place to look."  
  
"You ever notice how much of your life is spent in the sewers? I mean, doesn't  
that bother you? There are so many more...interesting things you could be doing, Max."  
  
She snorted. "Like sex, I suppose?"  
  
He smirked. "Maxie, Maxie, Maxie. What am I going to do with you? Always  
got your mind in the gutter."  
  
"You're the slut, not me." She pocketed both hands within the supple leather of  
her jacket, the slightest of smiles curling her full lips.  
  
"Slut? That's a harsh term. I prefer to think of it as..."  
  
"Jiggelo?" Max supplied helpfully.  
  
"No. It's experience, Max. Makes you wise in the ways of the world."  
  
"Why would you think that? Sex hasn't made you wise-not by a long shot. And  
God knows, because if that were true, you'd be the smartest guy in the world."  
  
"I'm an action sort of guy. I don't sit around just daydreaming about it." he  
replied in defense.  
  
"Yeah, you go to a bar, find the nearest whore with the biggest jugs, and take her  
back to your place."  
  
"At least I don't sit around fantasizing about sex with some old guy who'll die  
from a brush with my pinkie."  
  
"Logan's not old." Max shot back, glaring at him.   
  
Alec flashed her his best innocent look. "Did I mention any names? And for  
Christ's sake, Max-just admit it. The guy could be your dad-he would have had to start  
pretty damn young, but still..."  
  
"Age doesn't matter." she said quietly.  
  
"When you're in love, blah, blah, blah. At least I go for the ladies born in the  
same decade as me."  
  
"How the hell would you know? You get-what-a first name before taking a girl  
home to sleep with her?"  
  
Alec shrugged. "Hey, I got to have something to scream out."  
  
Max's face rippled into lines of distaste. "That's disgusting."  
  
Silence drifted now over the two, and with the sudden absence of conversation  
came a heightened awareness of the heat penetrating the air surrounding them. Alec  
sensed its searing touch within, the burning magnified as his fingers lightly brushed the  
silky perfection of her flesh. He jerked abruptly away, and noticed her stiffen.  
  
*We're both bullshitting each other, pretending everything's the same.* His eyes  
sought her face.  
  
"Max." he said softly, reaching to touch her shoulder.  
  
She barely looked at him. "What?"  
  
"The other night, when you came to Joshua's-"  
  
"Don't want to talk about it."   
  
*What a surprise.*   
  
"Now why doesn't that shock me? 'Cause whenever you make a mistake, you  
just run away and hide from it instead of facin' the truth." The acknowledgment of what  
they'd shared as a mere 'mistake' rankled within the deepest recesses of his soul. He  
could never have prepared himself for the sudden tightening in his chest, or the brief,  
violent clench of his heart that overtook him now.  
  
"That's all it was. A mistake. So we just need to forget about it and move on  
with our lives."  
  
He sighed, and closed his eyes for a fleeting moment. "Max, you kissed me, you  
realize that, don't you? It wasn't as though I kissed you, and you were too lonely and  
confused to make me stop. You kissed *me*."  
  
She quickened her pace, but he blurred to get in front of her, using his larger body  
to cease her swift pace. Her eyebrows grew taut with the malevolence of the glare she  
threw at him. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"I knew this would happen. You pretendin' nothin' happened, until someone  
forces you to talk about it. Well, I'm forcin' you. I want to talk about it."  
  
"Since when do you want to 'talk,' Mr. One Night Stands?" she demanded,  
crossing both arms over her chest.  
  
His throat constricted around the lump forming there. "Well, when the one  
woman who goes around constantly threatenin' to rip off certain bodily appendages,  
suddenly throws herself at me, something's not right with the world. I want to know  
what the hell possessed you to do it."  
  
"We're supposed to be...together."  
  
"But we're not." His eyes bore intensely into hers. "And don't feed me shit  
about needin' to 'push Logan away.' Logan wasn't there. You didn't have to prove  
anything to anyone."  
  
"I said forget about it." Her gaze glittered darkly against his. "Now move."  
  
He captured the hand that thrust out to shove him in the chest, and trapped it  
within his fingers, pulling her toward him.   
  
"Let me go!" she hissed, thrashing against him, her brisk movements sending  
undulations of desire all throughout him.   
  
"Just tell me why you did it." he whispered, a touch of desperation in his voice  
now.   
  
She opened her mouth to reply, a nervous tongue flicking out to traverse full,  
sumptuous lips, the move drawing his eyes.  
  
Her reply faded into oblivion with the sudden crackle of a radio, its sound  
erupting somewhere behind them.  
  
Both transgenics tensed. Instinctively, Alec jerked Max with him into a junction  
branching off the main tunnel, and crouched within the shadows.  
  
They clutched automatically for one another, muscles hardened in anticipation,  
Alec's strong arms encircling her lithe, slender frame as the echo of footsteps  
reverberated in soft metallic thuds throughout the length of the sewer tunnel.  
  
His breath quivered the hairs on her neck to stand at attention, and his hands  
slipped now to her own, curving gently around her fisted palms, the move completed  
without thought. The warmth radiating from his body seeped throughout the leather of  
her jacket, and her lashes fluttered as she sank into his embrace with unbidden  
acquiescence.  
  
A tiny voice in the back of her head thrust Max from this trance. *What the hell  
are you doing? Pay attention, soldier!*   
  
Her eyes snapped open once more, in time to glimpse the elongated shadows of  
two sector cops passing, chatting amongst themselves as they walked. Apparently, they'd  
learned something from the whole Joshua-Annie episode, and reached the same  
conclusion Max had-that the most likely place for the kid to hide was beneath the city.   
  
"Take 'em out?" Alec whispered into her ear, too quietly for the cops to hear.  
  
"We don't know how many there are." She pitched her voice low.  
  
He snorted softly. "C'mon, Max; I think the two of us can take out a few measly  
sector cops. Hell, *Logan*-"  
  
"Would you just leave him the hell out of this?" she demanded, shrugging him  
off. "All you ever do is rag on him. What the hell has Logan ever done to you?"  
  
*Besides taking the only woman I want, you mean?*  
  
"Max-" he began tiredly, the rest of what he'd been about to say cut off by the  
abrupt motion of her finger against his lips. He drew back, startled, eyes widening in the  
darkness.  
  
"They heard you!" Max mouthed angrily, piercing him with another glare for  
good measure.  
  
The footsteps reversed, and now began cautiously picking back the way they'd  
come.  
  
A burst of gunfire shattered the tender hearing of both transgenics. Alec winced,  
reaching instinctively to cover his ears. A shout transcended the ricochet of bullets, and  
now came the frantic sounds of pursuit.  
  
The two officers passed their safe haven once more, boots thrumming the sewer  
floor, guns raised as eager fingers pumped triggers simultaneously.  
  
"The kid!" Max hissed.  
  
She wrenched from him, ignoring his noise of protest, and blurred into the main  
tunnel, springing with cat-like grace into the air, thrusting both legs out as the forward  
momentum of her body carried her into the helmeted heads of both cops.  
  
They dropped with a clatter, guns skittering into the distance, and she landed  
gracefully, booting the man on the right in the jaw, dropping him like a rock. Blood  
foamed thick to his lips.  
  
The world exploded around her, into flowering blackness, and her legs buckled  
beneath her.  
  
"Max!" Alec screamed.  
  
Metal merged with flesh in a thud that rang frighteningly clear to his ears. His  
panicked eyes trickled over her body for a moment, before he spun and drop-kicked  
Max's attacker in the face. The cop's body spasmed upward with the force of the blow,  
and sprawled ten feet back into a nearby wall. Bone gave way to this tremendous show  
of power, and snapped in sync with his scream of agony.  
  
"Max! Max!"  
  
Alec flung himself down beside her, his fingers traveling the soft curve of her  
motionless form, growing sodden with the bodily fluids that meandered in ribbons of  
crimson over the arch of the tunnel.  
  
"Fuck." he whispered, squeezing both eyes shut.  
  
"I'm fine." she panted, trembling fingers grasping for the collar of his jacket. He  
gently assisted her into a sitting position, then thrust his arms roughly around her  
quivering figure.   
  
"You scared me."  
  
She pushed him away, and struggled to rise. "Just hit my calf-nothing vital.   
We've got to get to that kid before they do."  
  
"Not with you shot up."  
  
"Alec, we can't just leave him! You have to find him."  
  
He shook his head. "And what am I supposed to do? Carry you over my  
shoulder? That's just beggin' for both of us to get killed. This one's going to have to  
fight his own way out."  
  
"Alec, no! He's just a kid, dammit! Just leave me here; I'll be fine. They can't  
be too far away."  
  
"I'm not just leavin' you here for the cops. What kind of guy do you think I am?"  
  
"A self-centered, sex-obsessed asshole." she answered truthfully.  
  
"Not quite what I was lookin' for. You sure know how to make a guy feel good  
about himself, huh, Max? I mean, a man could get a comp-"  
  
The shot screamed through her eardrums.  
  
And his blood sprang thick into the air, spraying her face with searing intensity.   
Gore spattered the walls surrounding them, in a sickening mockery of a rainbow, red  
twining amongst his life fluids.  
  
He crashed limply against the wall at his back, the force jerking his head forward  
to droop flaccidly against a still chest.  
  
"Alec?" her voice emerged as a whimper.  
  
Amazingly he lived still, and lifted his head with ebbing strength to meet her eyes.   
Fear lurked within those beautiful hazel orbs, and both hands surged to the ragged hole in  
his chest.  
  
"Alec?" Max whispered, lips trembling.  
  
"Fuck...that hurt." he rasped. He swallowed thickly.  
  
She felt the burn of tears roused beyond moist lashes, and put a hand to his  
blood-spattered hair, stroking the fine strands. He clung tenaciously to life; she knew  
that just by looking at his wound-only his genetically-enhanced genes keeping him alive  
for these last few moments.  
  
"Alec, I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said. Can you hear me? I didn't mean  
what I said earlier. It wasn't a mistake." she whispered desperately, wetness treading the  
curve of her cheekbones. "I'm sorry!" The words erupted in an explosive sob.  
  
The gleam of life dulled, and dissipated into the blankness of death.  
  
Behind Max, Alec's murderer nudged his companion. "Didn't know they had  
feelings."  
  
"Fucking animal. Put her out of her misery."  
  
The bullet ripped through flesh, coming to rest in the vertebrae with a violence  
that arched her entire body, the scream dying with the agitated gurgle of disturbed body  
fluids.   
  
She gasped and writhed at this horrible agony, falling against him, his body  
cushioning her fall.   
  
A second shot exploded her head, and she fell now into endless oblivion, joining  
his soul as it ascended from the bloody wreckage of his body. 


End file.
